How to Deploy NodeJS Application on Azure Virtual Machine With Domain and DNS Mapping?

Deploying a Node.js application on an Azure Virtual Machine (VM) and mapping it with your custom domain via Cloudflare DNS can seem challenging at first, but in this guide, I’ll walk you through the entire process, step by step. By the end of this blog, your application will be live, secure with SSL, and accessible via your custom domain.

Create an Azure Virtual Machine

Login to Azure Portal

1. Head to Azure Portal (Azure Portal)

2. Log In with your Microsoft Account.

3. The Azure Portal dashboard will appear.

   

   Create A Virtual Machine

   1. In the Azure Portal, search for Virtual Machines and click on Create.

2. Specify the name for your Virtual Machine, Region and Availability Zone, For now we are going with the default options.

3. Choose Ubuntu as your operating system, or any other Linux distribution, Set a size for the VM according to your application’s needs.

4. In the Authentication type, select SSH Public Key (recommended for security) or use a password, for now we are going with password based authentication.

5. Make sure to configure inbound ports: open port 80 for HTTP traffic and port 443 for HTTPS traffic.

   

6. Click Review + Create to finalize the setup, then hit Create after validation.

   

   

   

Connect to Your VM

1. Once your VM is up and running, you’ll connect to it via SSH:

2. Click on Connect

   

3. Then another window will open, Click on Select for the Native SSH.

   

4. A side window will open with all the necessary commands needed to connect with your Virtual Machine via SSH.

   

5. Copy the command ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pem demoserver@74.241.133.174

6. Paste it in a Terminal application that supports SSH.

   

7. As we are using password for Authentication, It will ask the password for the VM.

   

   

8. Enter the password that you have added while creating the Virtual Machine and you will get access to your Virtual Machine from your Terminal application.

   

4. Install Node.js and NPM

   1. Update your VM by using the following commands.

       sudo apt update
       sudo apt upgrade
      

      

      

      

   2. Install Node.js and NPM

       curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_16.x | sudo -E bash -
       sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
      

   3. Check the NodeJS and NPM version:

       node -v
       npm -v
      

5. Transfer Your Node.js Application to the VM, Clone the GitHub Repository

   • If your Node.js application is hosted on GitHub:

    git clone https://github.com/username/repository.git

6. Install Dependencies

cd your-app-directory
npm install

3. Test the Application

   Start your Node.js application to ensure it’s working correctly:

node app.js

4. Your application should now be running on the VM. You can test it by visiting http://your-vm-ip:3000 or the port your app is configured to run on.

Install and Configure Nginx

1. To serve your Node.js app on the default HTTP (80) and HTTPS (443) ports, we’ll set up Nginx as a reverse proxy.

2. Install Nginx

    sudo apt install nginx
   

3. Configure Nginx

   Edit the default Nginx config file to point to your Node.js application:

    sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/default
   

4. Replace the contents with:

    server {
        listen 80;
        server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;
   
        location / {
            proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
            proxy_http_version 1.1;
            proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
            proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
            proxy_set_header Host $host;
            proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
        }
    }
   

   • Change yourdomain.com to your actual domain.

   • Ensure the proxy_pass directive points to the port your Node.js app runs on (e.g., 3000).

5. Restart Nginx

6. After editing, restart Nginx:

    sudo systemctl restart nginx
   

7. Install PM2 for Process Management

   1. To keep your Node.js app running in the background, use PM2.

    sudo npm install pm2 -g

2. Start the Node.js application with PM2.

    pm2 start app.js

3. Save the PM2 process list

   Make sure PM2 starts your app on boot:

    pm2 startup
    pm2 save

8. Map Your Domain with Cloudflare

   1. Now that your Node.js app is running on the Azure VM, we’ll set up Cloudflare for domain management.

   2. Add DNS records in Cloudflare

      • Go to the Cloudflare Dashboard.

• Select your domain and navigate to the DNS settings.

  

• Add an A record pointing your domain to the public IP address of your Azure VM:

• Name: @ (or www for subdomain)

• Content: Your VM’s public IP

• Proxy status: Proxied (for Cloudflare protection)

  3. SSL/TLS Configuration

• In Cloudflare: Go to the SSL/TLS settings and select Full mode (strict if you have a CA-issued certificate).

  

  

9. Install SSL Certificate Using Let’s Encrypt

   • To secure your site with HTTPS, we’ll install a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate on the server.

   • Install Certbot:- It automates SSL certificate installation.

       sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
     

   • Obtain SSL Certificate:- Run the following command to obtain and install the SSL certificate.

       sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com
     

   • Auto-renew SSL Certificate (Optional)

       sudo systemctl enable certbot.timer
     

10. Verify Deployment

    • Visit your domain (https://yourdomain.com) in a browser to verify the app is running securely with HTTPS.

Conclusion

In this guide, we covered deploying a Node.js application on an Azure Virtual Machine, setting up Nginx as a reverse proxy, managing your app with PM2, and securing it with SSL using Cloudflare and Let’s Encrypt. With your Node.js app now live and secured, you’re ready to scale and enhance it further!

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Thank you for taking the time to read this blog! I hope it was helpful in guiding you through deploying your Node.js application on Azure.

Feel free to connect with me on:

• Instagram: @ansal_pandey

• LinkedIn: Ansal Pandey

• GitHub: @Ansalpandey

Happy coding! 😊